My 1st thought is roots- check on growing habits of anything you want to plant & be sure roots aren't going to tear up your patio or walkway. I planted my orange tree a little too close to my house about 8 ft out & I have problem about every 3 yrs in 1 sewer line so made a mistake. Would take it out but fruit is terrific & shades house from very hot afternoon sun so SIL grinds it out every 2-3 yrs. You don't want to be having to replace or walk on uneven or broken cement of flagstone. I love flagstone, folks have front patio & put it on several years ago, over existing good concrete & it is lovely. Also don't want lot of leaves & junk on your walk & patio as pain to clean constantly. Look at some paper maples & the other plants in ground at peoples houses & see how they grow & if you see ground flat around them or sidewalks broken where the roots have raised it up. I wouldn't trust the guy at the store to tell you the truth. Find some & walk around them, be sure they have about same light as where you will have them. Look at mature trees not newly planted so they have had time to develop growth habits. Will be nice area!!

sunnyca, thanks for the input! I need to get an overhead sketch of the area to aid in landscape planning. I haven't seen anyone's yard around here with paperbark maples. For some reason there are a lot of Bradford Pears, which are at the bottom of my tree list. (Actually not even on it!) From what I can read, they paperbark maples seem to be well mannered trees, but I will definitely investigate more.

I wish I could have an orange tree. What a delight for you to enjoy fresh citrus!

It appears to me that the covered patio/partition is going to take up the space very close to the pine on the right. Is the walkway going to run along the patio? If so the flagstone will be lovely, however remember to make walkways appox. 4' wide so at least two people to walk on comfortably. This is espcially true with main walk ways. As to the Maples: The root systems can invade and lift hardscapes such as this. You already seem to have good tree shade based on the trees I see from the pictures. A nice Lilac tree or two would work in this area as well. I say this because the space could probably use an ornimental tree to enhance the new addition. If you must have the Maples and I don't blame you, plant them farther from the dwelling to give you alot more bang for you buck. Also by doing this you can subplant with some great shrubs that will take and make the area quite charming.

This is what we ended up with for the bones. I still need to flesh out the smaller landscaping..

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And a little to the right...
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Looking back towards driveway...

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And the garden we have against the house (We were able to preserve this taken in spring.

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Now I need more ideas. I'd still like to put the paperbark maple along the stepping stone pathway in the curved mulch area furthest from the house (2nd photo).

Your place allow your way more "curve".it is better the way shape is smooth "S",it's smooth angle link house door area.three paperbark maple form "T" shape is better.or densely plant into some shape.avoid to direct thread,parallel or other formal.I like tree match bush,flower,grass,small mountain,rock...too.

And very nice bones they are, too. All the trees and beds in the lawn seem well located (not like a house I once looked at which had a number of single huge shrubs in apparently-random places in the acre of front lawn).

What's planned for the tiny spot of mulch in the lawn (lower right corner of the first photo in the 9:52 post)? In the first photo in the 9:42 post, that spot looks like a logical place for a bush or small tree -- but then again, it's nearly in line with the future location of the paperbark maple. Still, you might consider putting something smallish in that location or a bit to the right of it.

I love the espaliered shrub in the final picture, particularly the bare trunk. What is it and how old is it? Is it attached to the house in any way?

missingtheobvious, thanks for the compliment. I am having a hard finding that paperbark maple! The tiny dot of mulch actually has a osakazuki japanese maple. Now that you mention it, it is nearly in line. I am not sure about those placements, but my poor maple just suffered a puppy attack, so I don't know if I should try to move it now.

The espaliered tree is a Chinese Fringe. It has done remarkably well there. It is on the slightly south, mainly eastern side. It is about 9 years old and we use masonery nails with plant ties to shape it, along with good pruning at least twice a year.

I am trying to find a place for some lovely kaliedoscope abelias towards the entry way. Other than that, I feel like I should repeat the same sort of plants along both sides of the walkway. I am adding some dwarf mondo grass among the stepping stones.

One dilemma I have is the distant berm I have in the 9:42 picture (behind the ornamental plum). I'd like to put another smallish tree there. I am wondering about a yoshino cherry because of the lateral expansion of the branches. I also like the golden rain tree. I have tried dogwoods before, and there is too much wind exposure and they did poorly. Any ideas?

Fall update photos:
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Finally found a 7 ft paperbark maple (in the foreground):
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Further to the right:
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